Abstract Strategy

Dokmus

Lead your tribe to glory on the island of Dokmus and become a legend!

Dokmus is a board game for 2-4 players. Your goal is to lead an expedition to the island of Dokmus, the ancestral god of your tribe. The island is represented by eight double-sided map pieces. During set-up, you randomize which side of each map piece is up and place them in a 3x3 grid so that the middle place is left empty.

The island is guarded by five Guardians, which are represented by Guardian cards. On each turn, players draft the Guardian cards so that each player gets the help of one Guardian. The Guardian cards decide turn order and they also give you special powers. With them, you can move and rotate, move your tokens, or gain first player marker for next turn.

On your turn, you have three tokens to use. You use tokens to spread your influence by placing them on the board. You can also sacrifice tokens to be able to cross waters or enter forests. Or you can just sacrifice them in a volcano. At the end of the game, you get victory points for discovered temples and ruins on the map as well as sacrificed tokens.

The layout of the islands changes constantly based on player actions, making Dokmus a dynamic, fast-paced game. So choose your Guardian, make the right sacrifices, and gain the favor of Dokmus!

Tak

"My next several hours were spent learning how to play tak. Even if I had not been nearly mad with idleness, I would have enjoyed it. Tak is the best sort of game: simple in its rules, complex in its strategy. Bredon beat me handily in all five games we played, but I am proud to say that he never beat me the same way twice." -Kvothe

Tak is a two-player abstract strategy game dreamed up by Pat Rothfuss in "The Wise Man's Fear" and made reality by James Ernest. In Tak, players attempt to make a road of their pieces connecting two opposite sides of the board.

Checkers

Abstract strategy game where players move disc-shaped pieces across an 8 by 8 cross-hatched ("checker") board.
Pieces only move diagonally, and only one space at a time. If a player can move one of his pieces so that it jumps over an adjacent piece of their opponent and into an empty space, that player captures the opponent's disc. Jumping moves must be taken when possible, thereby creating a strategy game where players offer up jumps in exchange for setting up the board so that they jump even more pieces on their turn. A player wins by removing all of his opponent's pieces from the board or by blocking the opponent so that he has no more moves.
This game, also known as Draughts, is part of the Checkers family.

The Official Checker Board to be used in tournaments and official matches of associations like international WCDF, ACF, and APCA usually shall be colored of green and off-white (buff). Board squares shall be not less than 2 inches nor more than 2½ inches wide. Tournament pieces are Red and White, but called Black and White in game related literature.

Sources:

American Pool Checker Association (APCA)
World Checkers and Draughts Federations (WCDF)
"The Standard Laws of Checkers", with comments by Jim Loy
Tournament Rules for Checkers, www.ehow.com

'Online Play

Boardspace.net (real time play against humans, or play against the computer)

Santorini

Santorini is a non-abstract re-imagining of the 2004 edition. Since its original inception over 30 years ago, Santorini has been endlessly developed, enhanced and refined by mathematician and educator, Dr. Gordon Hamilton.

Santorini is a highly accessible pure strategy game that is simple enough for an elementary school classroom. But with enough gameplay depth and content for even hardcore gamers to explore, Santorini is truly a game for everyone. The rules are deceptively simple. Each turn consists of 2 steps:

1. Move - move one of your builders into a neighboring space. You may move your Builder Pawn on the same level, step-up one level, or step down any number of levels.

2. Build - Then construct a building level adjacent to the builder you moved. When building on top of the third level, place a dome instead, removing that space from play.

Winning the game - If either of your builders reaches the third level, you win.

Variable player powers - What makes Santorini truly special is its seamless integration of variable player powers into a pure-strategy game. Dr Hamilton has designed over 40 thematic god and hero powers, each fundamentally changing the way the game is played.

Serpent Stones

Serpent Stones is an interpretation of an ancient game believed to have been played by the Aztecs over 600 years ago. As head priest of an Aztec warrior house, you must command a specialized team of Aztec warriors in ritual combat on the battlefield to satisfy the gods. Drawing on the power of teotl from your temple stone, your warriors can wield specialized nahualli animal attacks to strike or capture opposing warriors standing in your team's way of capturing your opponent's temple stone. The gods may show you favor by giving you an advantage during battle, but will it be you or your opponent that quenches their insatiable blood thirst today?

Players of Serpent Stones sit on opposite sides of a game board featuring seven staggered rows of Serpent Stones and take turns drawing a card and playing/discarding a card from an initial hand of five cards. Serpent Stones features three types of cards:

Warrior cards, which are played on the Serpent Stones to build your Aztec warrior team
Nahualli cards, which strike or capture opposing warrior cards
Teotl cards, which are "god" cards that can give a player some tactical advantage during gameplay

A player wins when either he captures his opponent's temple stone by placing a warrior card on it or he forces his opponent to suffer the "Wrath of Tezcatlipoca", a fancy Aztecian way of saying the opponent ran out of cards.